Group & Organization Management recent issues

Management Control in Bureaucratic and Postbureaucratic Organizations: A Lacanian Perspective

Styhre, A. — 2008-11-17

The notion of the postbureaucratic organization has been employed in organization theory to denote a number of movements beyond the control mechanisms of the bureaucratic organization. This article aims to use the notions of the symbolic and the imaginary, developed by the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan and applied to technology studies by Friedrich Kittler, when examining control in these two archetypical organizational configurations. The article argues that the departure from the use of written documents, scripts, and protocols and the increasing emphasis on identity, culture, ideology, and other unobtrusive forms of control can be examined in terms of being a change of emphasis from the symbolic to the imaginary register, from the register of language to the register of images.

Multilevel Investigation of Adaptive Performance: Individual- and Team-Level Relationships

Tae Young Han, , Williams, K. J. — 2008-11-17

This study investigates adaptability as a performance criterion in organizations. A multilevel approach was used to test predictors of individual-level adaptive performance (AP) and to examine how individual AP contributes to team AP. A multilevel survey found evidence for a multilevel composition pattern whereby AP varies within and between groups. At the individual level, continuous learning activities predicted individual AP. In addition, a cross-level effect was found such that team learning climate had an independent effect on individual AP. However, a hypothesized cross-level moderation effect of team learning climate on the relationship between continuous learning and individual AP was found nonsignificant. At the group level, team learning climate displayed a significant, positive relationship with team AP. A major contribution of this study is a new conceptualization of AP within a framework of multilevel theory. Practical implications to help align human resource management with higher level organizational factors are also discussed.

Shaping the Other: Maintaining Expert Managerial Status in a Complex Change Management Program

Cooney, R., Sewell, G. — 2008-11-17

This article examines the micro politics of organizational change by presenting the results of a long-term case study of complex technological change in an automotive manufacturing firm. The article focuses on the political contest around the generation of legitimate knowledge within the change program. The article discusses managerial strategies of knowledge appropriation and employee strategies of resistance to such appropriation. The article follows the evolving managerial accounts of change and highlights the way in which managers developed pragmatic accounts of change in response to the concerns of the employees, accounts that left intact their claims to be change experts in control of the change process.

Top Management Team Behavioral Integration and the Performance of Service Organizations

Carmeli, A. — 2008-11-17

The call for more extensive research regarding the role of processes within top management teams (TMTs) in organizational functioning is addressed in this study. The focus is on the service sector, which according to recent estimations accounts for more than 60% of the total economic activity in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and examines the relationship between TMT behavioral integration and multiple performance measures of service organizations. Results from survey data of TMTs from 96 organizations show that TMT behavioral integration is positively associated with both human resource performance and economic performance. The relationship between TMT behavioral integration and service quality and development was only marginally significant.

Group Cohesion as an Enhancement to the Justice--Affective Commitment Relationship

Andrews, M. C., Kacmar, K. M., Blakely, G. L., Bucklew, N. S. — 2008-11-17

Using a social exchange framework, the present study explores the role of group cohesion as a moderator of the relationship between the four dimensions of organizational justice and affective commitment. The hypotheses are tested using a sample of 142 employees of a pharmaceutical company. Results indicate that the relationship between distributive, interpersonal, and informational justice and affective commitment was stronger for individuals who reported high levels of work group cohesion. The relationship between procedural justice and affective commitment was unaffected by work group cohesion. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Managing Ethically in Times of Transformation: Challenges and Opportunities

Gopalakrishnan, S., Mangaliso, M. P., Butterfield, D. A. — 2008-11-17

Friends Don't Make Friends Good Citizens, But Advisors Do

Zagenczyk, T. J., Gibney, R., Murrell, A. J., Boss, S. R. — 2008-11-17

The authors explore whether employees' willingness to perform organization citizenship behavior (OCB), or go "above and beyond" what is required by their jobs, is affected by social influence. The authors draw on social information processing and social learning theories to argue that OCB is contagious, or affected by the OCB of employees with whom a focal employee maintains social network ties. A study of admissions department employees reveals that strong advice ties between employees are positively and significantly related to similarity in OCB, whereas strong friendship ties and weak ties are not. Implications for research and practice, including suggestions for influencing ethical behavior in organizations, are discussed.

Ethical Failure Under the Agency Logic: Grounding Governance Reform in a Logic of Value

du Plessis, C. J. A. — 2008-11-17

Progressive responses to recent failures in corporate ethical behavior advocate the complete separation of the chairman of the board and the CEO and the elevation of strategic planning, risk management, and financial certification to an independent board. Such proposals follow a linear path from the same agency logic that underpinned previously insufficient corporate governance reforms. After identifying problems associated with the agency logic, this article proposes its replacement with a new value logic, based on stakeholder theory, where empowerment of legitimate stakeholders and active board discourse become preferred mechanisms for a framework of ethical conduct within the firm.

Introduction: Offering New Insights into GLBT Workplace Experiences

Creed, D., Cooper, E. — 2008-09-19

Just Passing Through: Stigma, Passing, and Identity Decoupling in the Work place

DeJordy, R. — 2008-09-19

The scant literature on invisible stigmatized social identities, and most research on specific cases such as sexual orientation, generally focuses on "coming out," promoting the benefits and attempting to identify antecedents of revealing or disclosure. In reality, many individuals with invisible stigmatized social identities consciously and deliberately decide not to reveal them in organizational settings context. The author offers a model of passing in organizational contexts, focusing specifically on the unintended consequences of the decision to pass. Leveraging existing theories, the author posits mediators of lowered self-verification leading to disengagement from the social context; self-regulation and heightened situational awareness, which deplete cognitive and intrapsychic resources; and cognitive dissonance potentially leading to an altered perception of the organizational setting. All of these mediating factors have organizationally relevant outcomes for the individual.

Models of Workplace Sexual Identity Disclosure and Management: Reviewing and Extending Concepts

Croteau, J. M., Anderson, M. Z., VanderWal, B. L. — 2008-09-19

This article advances the understanding of workplace sexual identity management for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals by examining three conceptual frameworks recently proposed in the organizational and psychological literature (Clair, Beatty, & MacLean, 2005; Lidderdale, Croteau, Anderson, Tovar-Murray, & Davis, 2007; Ragins, 2004, 2008). After exploring two of the models that are based in stigma theory and one that is based in social cognitive theory, the article addresses new directions for understanding and studying sexual identity in the workplace through expanding and clarifying the prior conceptual work in the three models. Specifically, directions for greater clarity in definitions of identity management are suggested, recommendations for the integration and extension of perspectives on the relationship of identity management and workplace climate are made, and the need for expanding notions of sexual identity itself is promoted.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Exploring Dual Perspectives of "Coming Out" in the Workplace

King, E. B., Reilly, C., Hebl, M. — 2008-09-19

The present article explores the complexities of sexual orientation disclosure in the workplace and attempts to identify factors that may facilitate positive or exacerbate negative disclosure experiences from the perspectives of gay and lesbian employees (Study 1) and heterosexual coworkers (Study 2). Content analyses of narrative descriptions of "coming out" experiences suggest that the supportiveness of the climate of an organization may be more critical than timing or method of disclosure for gay and lesbian individuals. Reports from heterosexual individuals, however, suggest that timing of disclosure is meaningful over and above their own attitudes toward homosexuality and the organization's climate. These results indicate that both situational and contextual characteristics influence disclosure encounters and that disclosers' and recipients' experiences may differ in the extent to which they are influenced by each of these factors.

Managing Sexual Orientation Diversity: The Impact on Firm Value

Johnston, D., Malina, M. A. — 2008-09-19

This article examines the relation between a firm's stock market value and the extent to which the firm manages sexual orientation diversity in its workplace. To investigate this issue, we analyze the stock market reaction to the release of the inaugural corporate equality index (CEI). The CEI rates firms on how extensively they manage gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) workplace issues. The article is structured as a series of competing hypotheses that parallel societal views on GLBT workplace equality. Proponents of GLBT workplace equality suggest that good corporate citizenship increases firm value although opponents argue that the primary, if not sole, purpose of the firm is to maximize shareholder wealth, and that the value of the firm may be negatively affected due to public backlash. Our findings suggest that GLBT-friendly workplace policies are at worst value neutral and firms are not penalized for supporting GLBT workforce diversity.

Editorial

Baruch, Y. — 2008-07-18

The Impact of Anticipated Consequences, Respondent Group, and Strength of Affirmative Action Plan on Affirmative Action Attitudes

Kravitz, D. A., Bludau, T. M., Klineberg, S. L. — 2008-07-18

Two experiments found that affirmative action attitudes varied with the respondent's racioethnic group, strength of affirmative action plan (AAP), anticipated consequences of the AAP, and interactions of racioethnic group with the other variables. AAP strength had a monotonic negative effect on attitudes for some groups, but an inverse-U effect for others. Attitudes were most strongly associated with the anticipated impact of the AAP on company performance; they were also related to the expected effects on collective self-interest, target group representation, and target group stigmatization. The positive relation between the anticipated impact on company performance and support for the AAP was stronger among Whites than U.S.-born Hispanics; the negative relation between anticipated stigmatization and AAP support was stronger among Whites than African-Americans. The effect of AAP strength on attitudes was partially mediated by the anticipated consequences among Whites and African-Americans, but not among Hispanics and Asians.

Investigating the Validity of Stereotypes About Overweight Employees: The Relationship Between Body Weight and Normal Personality Traits

Roehling, M. V., Roehling, P. V., Odland, L M. — 2008-07-18

Research indicates that overweight job applicants and employees are stereo-typically viewed as being less conscientiousness, less agreeable, less emotionally stable, and less extraverted than their "normal-weight" counterparts. Together, the two reported studies investigate the validity of those stereotypes by examining the relationship between body weight and four relevant personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion) using three measures of body weight (body mass index [BMI] based on self-reported height and weight, BMI based on clinically assessed height and weight, percentage body fat assessed by bio-impedance technology) in a diverse group of 3,496 adults from the United States. There is substantial convergence between the two studies, with findings tending to refute commonly held stereotypes about the personality traits of overweight employees.

Individual Values and Social Exchange Variables: Examining Their Relationship to and Mutual Effect on In-Role Performance and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Cohen, A., Keren, D. — 2008-07-18

This study examines the relationship between individual values and organizational commitment and the joint effect of commitment dimensions and individual values on employees' in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The sample includes 539 secular Israeli teachers employed in 20 secular schools. The OCB data were provided by each school's principal. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed individual values, particularly collectivism, were related to affective and normative commitment above and beyond the effect of organizational justice. The findings also showed that individual values were related to three of the behavioral outcomes, also above and beyond the effect of the social exchange variables. The relationship of commitment forms to in-role performance and OCB was rather weak and raises some questions about the utility of organizational commitment in predicting these outcomes. The findings' implications for the continuation of research on the relationship between individual values and workplace attitudes and behaviors are discussed.

The Impact of the CEO Pay Gap on Firm Competitive Behavior

Gnyawali, D. R., Offstein, E. H., Lau, R. S. — 2008-07-18

The authors investigate how pay differences between the CEO and the rest of the members of the top management team influence a firm's competitive behavior as reflected in the observable and purposeful competitive moves launched by the firm. Using data from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, the authors found a positive relationship between the CEO pay gap and the volume and complexity dimensions of firm competitive behavior. The authors discuss both theoretical and managerial implications of these findings as they relate to important topics such as competitive strategy, corporate governance, and executive compensation.

Special Issue on Gossip in/around Organizations

Michelson, G., van Iterson, A., Waddington, K. — 2008-07-18

Toward a Further Understanding of the Relationships Between Perceptions of Support and Work Attitudes: A Meta-Analysis

Ng, T. W. H., Sorensen, K. L. — 2008-05-22

This study (a) compared the effect of perceived supervisor support (PSS) and perceived coworker support (PCS) on work attitudes; (b) examined the moderating role of gender, tenure, and job type in the support—attitude relationship; and (c) tested a theoretical model hypothesizing relationships among PCS, PSS, perceived organizational support, and work attitudes. In a meta-analysis, PSS was found to be more strongly related to job satisfaction (.52 vs. .37), affective commitment (.48 vs. .28), and turnover intention (—.36 vs. —.19) than was PCS. Further, job type (customer-contact vs. non-customer-contact jobs) was found to be a significant moderator. Finally, the proposed model received empirical support. Different forms of support were closely related to work attitudes and to each other. Implications for research on social support are discussed.

Influence of Compensation Strategies in Canadian Technology-Intensive Firms on Organizational and Human Resources Performance

Tremblay, M., Chenevert, D. — 2008-05-22

This study examines the role of technological intensity in the choice of compensation policies and the influence of such policies on organization (market, productivity) and human resources performance (turnover, work climate, discretionary efforts). Using a survey of 252 Canadian firms, the authors show that technological intensity has a significant influence on compensation policies. A second survey of 128 Canadian organizations also demonstrates that technological intensity has a significant moderating effect on the association between several compensation policies and both human resources and organizational performance. More specifically, the authors find that greater emphasis on group performance plans and market pay is positively associated with productivity in high-technology firms. Extensive use of individual performance pay plans in high-technology firms is positively associated with turnover, whereas the use of group performance plans is negatively related to turnover.

An Exchange Approach on Firm Cooperative Orientation and Outcomes of Strategic Multilateral Network Participants

Wincent, J. — 2008-05-22

Based on exchange theory, this study develops and tests a model that explores the associations among strategic multilateral network participants' cooperative orientations (contributions to and benefits from network partners) and network connectedness, entrepreneurial behavior, and firm performance. Empirical analyses of 54 firms in two strategic multilateral networks show that the two firm orientations of benefiting from and contributing to the network are positively related to each other. Results substantiate the expected association between benefiting orientations and firm performance and confirm the nonsignificant relationship between contributing orientations and firm performance. The indirect performance path, where cooperative orientations were proposed to influence performance via network connectedness and entrepreneurial behavior, was not supported. Implications and suggestions for future research on firm cooperative orientations are presented.

Employees' Perceptions of Their Leaders: Is Being Similar Always Better?

Goldberg, C., Riordan, C. M., Zhang, L. — 2008-05-22

Using a sample of middle and upper level managers, the authors examined the effects of employee—supervisor demographic similarity on employees' perceptions of their supervisor's leadership ability. The authors also examined the moderating effects of individuals' needs for self-continuity and the status of the demographic groups on these relationships. Very little evidence was found for direct similarity effects. However, the authors found strong and consistent evidence that employees in high-status demographic groups exhibited a positive relationship between self-continuity and perceptions of their leaders when the leader was demographically similar, whereas employees in low-status demographic groups exhibited a negative relationship between self-continuity and perceptions of their leaders when the leader was demographically similar. Implications for social identity theory and relational demography research are discussed.